At present, when a terminal is connected to an external device, the terminal often cannot display a status of the connection between the external device and the terminal, or often displays a status of the connection in a relatively undiversified manner. A user often fails to obtain more information about the status of the connection. For example, when the user listens to music in the terminal using a headphone, public play of sound is stopped, and the sound changes to be played using the headphone. If the user hears no music when plugging the headphone in, the user does not know whether the headphone is successfully plugged in and is in operation. Alternatively, when the user charges the terminal, the terminal displays only a current electricity quantity of the terminal. Therefore, display of an existing terminal affects experience of a user in perceiving a connection status.